ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — Orange County Democratic Party party leaders are pushing for the removal of film legend John Wayne's name and statue from the international airport.
After "racist and bigoted" statements Wayne made in a 1971 Playboy interview gained notoriety this week, party officials condemned the comments and on Friday passed an emergency resolution
to remove his name, statue and other likenesses from the airport, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“There have been past efforts to get this done and now we’re putting our name and our backing into this to make sure there is a name change,” Ada Briceño, chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County, told the Times.
Leaders said in the resolution that the removal of his name and likeness is part of “a national movement to remove white supremacist symbols and names (that are) reshaping American institutions, monuments, businesses, nonprofits, sports leagues and teams.”
The resolution also asked to restore its original name, the Orange County Airport, to the airport. It was changed in 1979 and renamed after Wayne, who was a longtime resident of Orange County. Wayne died in 1979.
A separate Change.org petition with more than 1,000 signatures also asks to remove Wayne’s name from the airport.
Wayne made bigoted statements against Black people, Native Americans and the LGBTQ community in the 1971 Playboy interview.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
